I’m gonna try to hunt Racoons!
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dwinmeade
Well-Known Member
If they are near my bird feeders and they don't have a 9mm strapped to their waist, then they aren't protected! (Bang!)
We had to build cages around the bottom of our feeders to keep them from climbing up and spinning the feeder
Hatrick
Well-Known Member
Savage 12BVSS
Well-Known Member
Hmmmm.......maybe they derive a certain amount of joy giving feeders a spin
I've been face to face with a few and seeing those teeth makes me kinda feel they don't need a firearm to inflict pain. 
codyadams
Well-Known Member
I have to shoot quite a few every year. My parents live along a river and get a bunch of them. One year they went on vacation go see family for a week, they left with 40 some chickens, came back to 5, the rest all got killed by coons. That chicken coup looked like a slaughter house....dead carcasses everywhere, blood splattered on the walls....it was grousome, my father and I referenced it as "grendal and the house of men", it was bad. Once they find a honey pot, they come back every night.
I have a foxpro with "coon fight" sound, I go out right after sunset, and start calling. I learned the hard way, they aren't like coyotes, they are aggressive, they come in hard and way, way fast. I rarely have to wait more than 3 minutes before I see a set of eyes bouncing towards me, and it's usually under a minute....they also don't seem to care if you put light on them, as long as it's not directly in their eyes. I regularly shoot 3-5 in my one stand a night when I go out, one after another after another, and my guns aren't supressed, they just keep coming. I use my ar-15 .223, I have used a 22, and it absolutely kills them, but I have had a few run 50-100 yards after taking a shoulder hit with a stinger. Shots are usually 50 yards+ from my calling location, so the .223 works out better. A 22 hornet would also be great. I just have a preference towards a semi auto and high capacity....because of the following story.
When I say I learned the hard way....first time I went after them was after the occurence I mentioned, grendal and the house of men. I researched and found "coon fight" was popular and seemed to work well, so figured I would give it a go with my foxpro. Had a light mounted to my ar, and went to a spot by the river I knew might be good. Leaned up against a fence post on a steep hill just above the river, set up my call on the post in front of/just down the hill from me. It was steep enough, the call was about level with my head. Started calling like I do for night time coyotes, figured I would wait 3-5 minutes before shining a light. It was very dark, no moon yet and overcast, not even star light. Well about a minute or two after starting the caller, I heard something that sounded like the snarls and growls from my caller, but it didn't quite match.....then I heard the fence squeaking, and saw him. A big coon was biting my e-caller!! I stood up, and I saw the dark shadow jump down and start charging me.....I didn't have time to turn on my light, and immediate action was needed, I pointed at the approaching shadow and started sending rounds heads up, adjusting my aim with each shot as the muzzle flash illuminated the angry charging coon, my final (and 8th shot) shot was within about two feet of me when I just figured I was going to get chewed on and started kicking at it, I felt one solid hit into something soft with my boot and then backpedaled and turned to run up the hill a few steps. Once I realized he wasn't on me, I turned around and turned on my flashlight and started scanning.....saw the coon about 10 yards down hill trying to run away, but apparently one of my 8 rounds fired in about a second and a half made contact, his guts were tangled up in a sage bush. I put a final round through him to finish him off, and took a second to recap what just happened, and calm myself down. I decided I would call it a night after that ha ha!!
So now when I call, I have a light on as soon as I start the caller, and begin scanning. I catch their eyes, and just keep the main beam of the light above them, direct light seems to slow em down or they don't come in. But with just edge light, they come as close as I let them get, about 25-50 yards or so depending on if they cross the river or if it is frozen and they walk across, and I dump em. But that is why the only gun I have in my hand is an ar when coon hunting, other people have brought bolt 22's and other caliber bolt guns when going with me, but not me. If I would have had a bolt gun that night, I almost certainly would have got chewed up a bit!!
Below is the coon from the story. Photo is blurry, I was probably still shaking with adrenaline ha ha
I have a foxpro with "coon fight" sound, I go out right after sunset, and start calling. I learned the hard way, they aren't like coyotes, they are aggressive, they come in hard and way, way fast. I rarely have to wait more than 3 minutes before I see a set of eyes bouncing towards me, and it's usually under a minute....they also don't seem to care if you put light on them, as long as it's not directly in their eyes. I regularly shoot 3-5 in my one stand a night when I go out, one after another after another, and my guns aren't supressed, they just keep coming. I use my ar-15 .223, I have used a 22, and it absolutely kills them, but I have had a few run 50-100 yards after taking a shoulder hit with a stinger. Shots are usually 50 yards+ from my calling location, so the .223 works out better. A 22 hornet would also be great. I just have a preference towards a semi auto and high capacity....because of the following story.
When I say I learned the hard way....first time I went after them was after the occurence I mentioned, grendal and the house of men. I researched and found "coon fight" was popular and seemed to work well, so figured I would give it a go with my foxpro. Had a light mounted to my ar, and went to a spot by the river I knew might be good. Leaned up against a fence post on a steep hill just above the river, set up my call on the post in front of/just down the hill from me. It was steep enough, the call was about level with my head. Started calling like I do for night time coyotes, figured I would wait 3-5 minutes before shining a light. It was very dark, no moon yet and overcast, not even star light. Well about a minute or two after starting the caller, I heard something that sounded like the snarls and growls from my caller, but it didn't quite match.....then I heard the fence squeaking, and saw him. A big coon was biting my e-caller!! I stood up, and I saw the dark shadow jump down and start charging me.....I didn't have time to turn on my light, and immediate action was needed, I pointed at the approaching shadow and started sending rounds heads up, adjusting my aim with each shot as the muzzle flash illuminated the angry charging coon, my final (and 8th shot) shot was within about two feet of me when I just figured I was going to get chewed on and started kicking at it, I felt one solid hit into something soft with my boot and then backpedaled and turned to run up the hill a few steps. Once I realized he wasn't on me, I turned around and turned on my flashlight and started scanning.....saw the coon about 10 yards down hill trying to run away, but apparently one of my 8 rounds fired in about a second and a half made contact, his guts were tangled up in a sage bush. I put a final round through him to finish him off, and took a second to recap what just happened, and calm myself down. I decided I would call it a night after that ha ha!!
So now when I call, I have a light on as soon as I start the caller, and begin scanning. I catch their eyes, and just keep the main beam of the light above them, direct light seems to slow em down or they don't come in. But with just edge light, they come as close as I let them get, about 25-50 yards or so depending on if they cross the river or if it is frozen and they walk across, and I dump em. But that is why the only gun I have in my hand is an ar when coon hunting, other people have brought bolt 22's and other caliber bolt guns when going with me, but not me. If I would have had a bolt gun that night, I almost certainly would have got chewed up a bit!!
Below is the coon from the story. Photo is blurry, I was probably still shaking with adrenaline ha ha
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Backcountry sports
Well-Known Member
410 shotgun
22 WMR is the best medicine for them. I've always hunted them at night, out of the trees....day hunting them never crossed my mind.
It's kinda like shooting crows or Ravens.
When you kill one, it's mate will go wild and start screaming like a baby. If it's populated with coons the others will sometimes join in with the screem'n.
It's a ton of fun
It's kinda like shooting crows or Ravens.
When you kill one, it's mate will go wild and start screaming like a baby. If it's populated with coons the others will sometimes join in with the screem'n.
It's a ton of fun
This is a great story! It should be adapted into a movie script and submitted to SyFy!
Thanks for the tips as well. Maybe I'll use my AR-15 as well.
Kimber.204
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2017
- Messages
- 127
If you want you can set up a blind beside my garage and watch the neighbor's garbage cans at night. You'll need night vision and a suppressor.....and you'll want to duck when the po-po's roll by, they're all nice guys, but they've got a job to do. It's sort of illegal to discharge a firearm in the borough, but it's a very target rich environment.
If you do it legally out side of town you'll have fun too!
If you do it legally out side of town you'll have fun too!
codyadams
Well-Known Member
Ya, it was an intense few seconds ha ha. If your in a wooded area and shots would be close, a pump or semi auto shotgun would be a great option as well, but where I hunt them is pretty open, sage in the hill and grazed grass on the river bottom which is about 500 yards across, with only a few sparce willows and a few cottonwood trees, I think the cottonwood patch may actually be where they den up, about 400 yards away.
srogerson
Well-Known Member
I've killed many with CCI mini mags, 36gr in 22lr. They can sure tear up a corn feeder.
Now I use one of those $500 night vision scopes on top of the AR15 with 60gr VMAX. That stops them right now.
Now I use one of those $500 night vision scopes on top of the AR15 with 60gr VMAX. That stops them right now.
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2015
- Messages
- 162
I have 7.5 acres in central East Florida and it can get real wet! Lots of hogs but way more coons. I put a automatic light https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/moultrie-feeder-hog-light#repChildCatid=1095910 I use the wildgame innovations but they are hard to find now. They come on automatically when something moves near them. I hook one to all my feeders. I sit in the same stand I use for hog hunting. They come in at dusk and all night long. I use a Ruger 10/22 with suppressor with segmented CCI hollow points, mostly use head or neck shots. The light is set to come on and then stays on for 30 seconds. Plenty of time mostly. I also put up a raccoon feeder at season end (now). It consists of a 5 gallon bucket with a 1.5" hole and pvc fittings and an 90 elbow cut off pointing up. I hang it with chain and fill it with the cheapest cat food, I put a couple pounds in each morning. The height off the ground is a key, too low and they eat it real fast too high and they can't get it. I hook a light to the tree and sit in my coon stand. I kill one to 6 a night depending how long I sit there. To get them started open a can of sardines and spill them out. It fills a hunting need during the summer months. Great story by the way. I use the carcasses to lure in coyotes And buzzards!
erle
Member
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2015
- Messages
- 19
You will be doing your wild turkey population a great favor as raccoons destroy turkey nests for the eggs as well as newly hatched turkeys. You will definitely want to hunt them at night or at least just before sunrise and just after sunset. You will probably enjoy trapping them so you won't have to be up most of the night. I like using Havahart live traps. Two things you will want to consider if you haven' thought about it:
Check raccoon regulation at your Wildlife Department. Here in Mississipi there are seasons for hunting as well as trapping raccoons. Some people eat them so the Wildlife Dept. considers them as "game animals" rather than "nuisance animals". They also require a special permit for trapping in addition to your hunting license. Some types of traps also require tags.
The other thing to consider, if you hunt them at night which will definitely require a light, is to not put yourself in a position that any Game Officer might think you are head lighting deer. Using a small caliber shotgun or rifle instead of anything "high powered" should be OK.
Check raccoon regulation at your Wildlife Department. Here in Mississipi there are seasons for hunting as well as trapping raccoons. Some people eat them so the Wildlife Dept. considers them as "game animals" rather than "nuisance animals". They also require a special permit for trapping in addition to your hunting license. Some types of traps also require tags.
The other thing to consider, if you hunt them at night which will definitely require a light, is to not put yourself in a position that any Game Officer might think you are head lighting deer. Using a small caliber shotgun or rifle instead of anything "high powered" should be OK.
